Controls Director

Overview:

We don’t simply hire employees. We invest in them. When you work at Chatham, we empower you — offering professional development opportunities to help you grow in your career, no matter if you've been here for five months or 15 years. Chatham has worked hard to create a distinct work environment that values people, teamwork, integrity, and client service. You will have immediate opportunities to partner with talented subject matter experts, work on complex projects, and contribute to the value Chatham delivers every day. 

Chatham Financial specializes in the debt and derivatives markets with solutions that combine expert advisory with proprietary technology for a diverse global client base. We handle the highest volumes and largest breadth of engagements in our field, giving us unmatched perspective in helping clients understand and mitigate financial risk.  

The Controls Director will oversee design and implementation of a set of control frameworks sufficient to provide world-class operational reliability in our client deliverables, an appropriate level of operational business risk acceptance, and documented reasonable assurance around processes where clients require specific controls validation.  

This position will act as the second line of defense (to our first line business control owners) for Chatham’s control frameworks and controls design and operation. In this position, you will work with stakeholders across the organization to help them build and operate effective controls to achieve the organization’s objectives. Where necessary, you will be providing leadership, guidance, and mentorship on control design. 

In this role you will:

• Act as controls second line of defense to ensure a cohesive controls environment.
• Lead, conduct, and document walk-throughs of controls with first line control owners and team members.
• In collaboration with first line partners, you will act as a subject matter expert (SME) to:
  • Design and maintain control frameworks for in-scope areas.
  • Design controls aligned with control frameworks.
  • Align control objectives and design with SOC2 controls environment managed through our Technology team, ensuring overlapping controls are being managed efficiently and effectively.
• Manage Chatham’s relationship with external auditors engaged to provide SOC1 reports through:
  • Evaluating the current scope of externally audited controls.
  • Managing a team of direct reports supporting external audit, including staffing, resource allocation, and talent development.
  • Managing auditor relationship and audit issues, including provider selection, business case for scope changes, pricing, and timing/frequency of audits.
• Evaluate and challenge adequacy and effectiveness of controls.
• Escalate any potential control gaps discovered during the completion of control evaluations.
• Report on control operations to the Operational Risk Committee and Executive Leadership Team
• Engage in Operational Risk responsibilities including:
  • Assisting with operational risk assessment and management
  • Assisting with evolving the existing risk, process, control taxonomies to succinctly frame emerging threats and risks.

Requirements:

A candidate’s operational experience and effective collaboration are of primary importance to us. We seek out candidates who exhibit a proven ability to prioritize and drive improvements to systems, have a strong client service orientation, and a desire to grow the capabilities of the teams being served to meet the company’s needs. For this role, we are specifically seeking candidates who have the following experience and skills: 

• 8+ years of relevant experience in Controls, Risk Management, or Technology Risk Management.
• Strong problem-solving skills with a bias towards pragmatic and client-service oriented solutions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with strong track record of working with various levels of stakeholders, from subject matter experts to executives.
• Working knowledge of process improvement methodologies.
• Strong track record of data-driven and methodical approaches to dealing with ambiguity; ability to distill and synthesize relevant information.
• Aptitude and desire to learn about financial services / derivatives industry.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience designing, implementing, and managing complex control and/or risk programs and leading team members and stakeholders on the continued use and management of such programs.
• Familiarity with risk frameworks and applicable risk governance regulations.
• Extensive experience fielding SOC1 audits.
• Experience in financial services or a background in management consulting (client-facing) with an advisory firm.

About Chatham Financial:  

Chatham Financial is the largest independent financial risk management advisory and technology firm. A leader in debt and derivative solutions, Chatham provides clients with access to in-depth knowledge, innovative tools, and an incomparable team of over 700 employees to help mitigate risks associated with interest rate, foreign currency, and commodity exposures. Founded in 1991, Chatham serves more than 3,500 companies across a wide range of industries — handling over $1 trillion in transaction volume annually and helping businesses maximize their value in the capital markets, every day. To learn more, visit chathamfinancial.com.  

For Colorado based candidates, the compensation range for the position is expected to be between $182,000 - $204,000 annually. Total compensation, including base pay, discretionary individual bonus and company bonus, may be higher than range listed, depending on applicant’s skills, qualifications, and experience.

Chatham Financial is an equal opportunity employer. 

#LI-onsite 

#LI-BC1